Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546858
12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWS BACK ON TVM FROM OCTOBER MA' SAVIOUR BALZAN FROM THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER 2026 AT 10.15PM ON TVM Convicted murderer Ronnie Azzopardi loses bid to overturn life sentence A court has rejected a consti- tutional case filed by convicted murderer Ronnie Azzopardi, known as Is-Sufu, seeking to overturn his life sentence over a 2005 car bomb killing. The bombing targetted his brother's partner, Angela Bon- din. Azzopardi was convicted in March 2013 over the explo- sion of a bomb in Żejtun on 18 June 2005 that killed Bondin and seriously injured Therese Grima. He was also convicted of at- tempting to kill four other people and of other offences connected to the explosion. He was sentenced to life imprison- ment, a sentence confirmed on appeal in May 2019. Azzopardi filed constitution- al proceedings in September 2024, claiming that his convic- tion had been based on false testimony and that this had breached his right to a fair hearing and his right to private and family life. He asked the court to declare that his conviction was based on allegedly false evidence and that his fundamental rights had been breached, and con- sequently to quash his convic- tion and order his release from prison. Alternatively, Azzopardi asked the court to use its pow- ers at law to quash his convic- tion and order his release even if no fundamental rights viola- tion was established. He also sought compensation for the alleged breaches. His claims centred on the testimony of eyewitness Jo- seph Grima, who had told the Criminal Court that he had seen the person who placed the bag containing the bomb and identified Azzopardi by his build rather than his face. Azzopardi claimed that Grima subsequently said he had nev- er identified him as the person who planted the bomb. As part of his constitution- al case, Azzopardi presented three video recordings taken by members of his family in which Grima could be heard insisting that he had not identified him as the person who planted the bomb. The court, however, stressed that it could not use constitu- tional proceedings to deter- mine whether Grima had given false testimony or to reassess Azzopardi's guilt. The court rejected Azzopar- di's argument that his convic- tion had effectively rested sole- ly on Grima's evidence, noting that prosecutors had presented a number of other witnesses and pieces of evidence during the criminal proceedings. The Constitutional Court ruled that Azzopardi's allega- tion rested on amateur video recordings, while Grima him- self had not been called to tes- tify in the constitutional pro- ceedings. The court therefore found there was no clear and concrete evidence establishing that Grima's original testimony had been false. The court consequently dis- missed all of Azzopardi's re- quests and ordered him to bear the costs of proceedings. Judge Audrey Demicoli hand- ed down judgement. MAYA GALEA mgalea@mediatoday.com.mt Convicted murderer Ronnie Azzopardi is serving a life sentence for a 2005 car bombing which killed his brother's partner Ronnie Azzopardi, also known as Is-Sufu